The present invention provides a method and an article of apparel creating the illusion of the wearer having a body tattoo.
1. Background of the Invention
Many people enjoy expressing themselves through fashion and body art. In recent years, body art has been used by a wide range of individuals as a means to express their creativity or otherwise create and display an individual lifestyle or fashion statement. These expressions may come in the form of clothing, hair, body piercing and tattoos. Examples of such expressions are torn jeans, dyed hair and tongue piercing, for example. Other expressions are more permanent and may consist of permanent artistic displays to the person""s skin. There may come a time when a person may want to change, update or alter these individual expressions only to find out that it is impossible or physically painful to do so. This is particularly true of body piercing and tattoos.
The present invention provides a safe and temporary solution for expressing one""s individuality by providing an article of apparel with a torn area for exposing a fake tattoo.
2. Summary of the Invention
The apparel of the present invention provides a method for creating the illusion of the wearer having a body tattoo. More specifically, the apparel has an upper layer of material that forms the body of the apparel (i.e., the apparel may be in any form such as a T-shirt, pants such as jeans or slacks, a jacket, headband, or a vest, for example and the upper layer is the material from which the apparel is formed.) An opening is formed within the upper layer to reveal or expose a lower layer of material attached at its periphery to the upper layer. The opening within the upper layer of material is formed by a jagged edge to give the appearance of a tear within the material. The lower layer is a different color than the upper layer of material and is preferably the same or similar color of the wearer""s skin tone to give the illusion that the torn area is revealing the wearer""s skin. A tattoo consisting of a selected design or other artistic representation is chosen by the wearer and added to the lower layer of material. The tattoo may be a permanent addition to the lower layer or may be removably attached to the lower layer by an means such as Velcro, adhesive, heat bonding, zip-on, sewn, or the like.
The resulting apparel gives the illusion that the wearer is wearing torn clothing exposing a tattoo on the wearer""s skin in the area of the tear. This illusion allows the wearer to choose and interchange a body tattoo and the location of a tear exposing the tattoo without having to expose the wearer""s skin or permanently tattooing the wearer""s body.